invader

a rash under my skin
a niacinic flush
an illegal drug
I long to scratch through,
find that trail
those shedded scales
betraying the cells that allowed you entrance
into my constant waking.

From one turn of a thought:
one step forward,
ten years back.

The child in me is frightened with wonder while
the woman in me is bracing for
six more weeks of winter.

The wind is howling,
and the thunderclouds are rolling forward
with a visceral hunger.
The sky is almost green,
and the first hint of rain has begun to spit on me.
I feel the acid collecting in the bottom of my belly,
and I shiver, an almost tremor.